1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molten metal distribution system for distributing the molten metal in a furnace to reserving furnaces of a plurality of low pressure casting machines and, more particularly, to an automatic molten metal distribution system having a function to automatically decide what one of the reserving furnaces of the low pressure casting machines the molten metal is to be distributed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An automatic molten metal distribution system for distributing the molten metal automatically from a furnace to a plurality of casting machines is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 15350/1989. In this system a human operator depresses each push button, when the corresponding casting machine is prepared for receiving the molten metal, to issue molten metal pour instructing signal, and each signal is sequentially stored so that the molten metal is poured into the casting machines in accordance with the stored sequence.
This automatic molten metal distribution system of the prior art can be applied to gravity casting machines each having no reserving furnace so that the molten metal to be distributed is poured directly into each die and is cast one by one, but not to low pressure casting machines, for example, in which the molten metal is poured into each reserving furnace of the machine so that it is usually cast plural times by one or more casting dies of each machine. In the low pressure casting machine the molten metal can always be poured, if intended so, into the reserving furnace unless it is so much in the reserving furnace as will overflow. Thus, one can not fix the end of preparation for receiving the molten metal, and the afore-mentioned prior art cannot be applied to the low pressure casting machines. In case, on the other hand, each pour instructing signal is issued when the molten metal in the corresponding reserving furnace is too short to cast, the second and subsequent machines will have excessive standby times if such pour instructing signals are substantially simultaneously issued from the plurality of machines.